Metal Evolution – Extreme Metal

            It's been three years since I've written a review of a music documentary, so I've decided to stop numbering these entries from this point on.

            One series that focus exclusively on metal as a genre from an historical point is BangerTVs’ Metal Evolution, with Sam Dunn being the mastermind behind it. The episode that was released for free on Youtube, hence the one I watched the most focuses on Extreme Metal. Here, extreme metal is an “umbrella genre” (or term) that encompasses death metal, black metal and grindcore, as well as the many bands that were part of these three main types and then went on to create even more subgenres.

Bands such as Darkthrone, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Enslaved, Emperor and Gojira, just to name a few, are the focus of this episode, as it follows the evolution of this “umbrella genre” from the late 1980’s to the present day.

Musicians from these bands are interviewed throughout, as Sam Dunn, the interviewer, who mapped metal’s many subgenre’s in his Metal Evolution documentary series, explores the evolution of extreme metal as an “umbrella term” that encompasses many subgenres of heavy music. Thanks to it documentary I was able to learn more about extreme metal, what it encompasses, the music and the bands that are a part of its’ dev
elopment and growth.

There are many high points in this episode, mostly the interview to Dany Filth from Cradle of Filth, the members of Carcass and Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse, one of the genre’s most impressive bass players. It shows how much of the evolution of extreme metal was about “pushing the envelope”, as one of the people interviewed says at one point.

However, the pushing of boundaries by these musicians isn’t to everybody’s taste, even metal listeners, but it is an interesting avenue to explore, if one feels daring, and this documentary’s episode is one of the best entry points one can find.

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Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoHOgfEoTlc

Patreon BangerTV: https://www.patreon.com/BangerTV